Electric grill



H. E. PRICE ELECTRIC GRILL Aug. 19, 1952 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Filed Sept. 10,1949 9 a a 4 4 a .7 a in. Tw hmv 9 m .u l. ,e

0 Bu 5 a M w Aug. 19, 1952 H. E. PRICE 2,607,287

ELECTRIC GRILL Filed Sept. 10, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 1820832303 me EP2112102 by flfiiozfizeys U I- ES PATENiIT?i 1 OFF if a I vj, ;C ntatas?155 HarryE LPrice, firooklinm Applicationsepteinber 10, r1495:

4 ironin ((199-372) This invention relates to electric grills of thetype comprising a frame supporting a bottom hot plate'a'nd an armpivotally mounted on the frame and carrying a top hot plate which can bemoved toward and from the bottom hot plate by a swinging movement of thearm.

Electric grills of this type are used-quite extensively for makingtoasted sandwiches and one of the objects of the invention is to providean electric grill of the above type with novel springmeans for socounterbalancing the weight of the arm and top hot plate that when thehot plate is in operative position, it will engage but rest very lightlyon the top surface of the sandwich thereby avoiding the danger that thesandwich willbe unduly crushed by the weight of the arm and top hotplate.

Another object of the invention is to-provide improved counterbalancingmeans for th'e pivoted arm which not only functions as above described,but which is so constructed that when the arm is in its open or raisedposition, said spring means will overbalance the weight of thebrokenout. I v y M. .Fig. 2 isa section on the line 2-2, Fig. 1. showingthe arm and top hot plate in closed operative I position.

Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view showing the arm and top hot plate inraised or open position.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the electric grill looking fromthelleft in Fig..1. and: with'partof the arm broken out. 1 V J The electric grill hereinshown is o f that known type which comprises a supporting frame I onwhich is stationarily mountedthe bottom'hot plate 2, and which alsocomprises an arm 3. that is pivotally mounted to the frame at "13 andwhich supports the top hot plate 4' so-that by swinging the arm aboutits pivot, the top hot plate 4' maybe'moved from its operative positionshown in Fig. 2 to theopen'position shownin' Fig. 3.

The top hot plate 4 may be connected to the arm 3 in any usual way andas herein shown said top hot plate 4 is carried in a housing member 5which has a lug 6 extending from its upper side that enters a recessformed in the under- "an electric grill embodying my inventionwith..part of the arm side of the arm 3', said.iugfbeingprovided-withthe slot 1' through" which passes a supporting bolt 8 that is carried bythe arm. This providesnot only a pivotal connection between the topoghotplate and the arm,,but also permits'acertain movement of the top hotplate longitudinally of the arm. The rearpf the housing!) carries twobrackets '9, each hav ing';a vertical slot: III which receives aguidingpin -li "carried by a 'lug .12 rigid with the frame I. Thisslotted-bracket and pin serve as a means of maintaining the top hotplate in positionduring the "swinging'movement of the arm. The partsthus f ar1 described are such as are usually 'f ound.injgrills'of-this'type and form no part of my" invention, which-Gas stated above;relates to themeans.,for c'ounterbalancing the weight fof the arm 3, andthe top Mounted "on the" rear end .of j the -iframje' i 'jis asupporting bracket 14 having at 'its'upper end two upstanding arms I5i'which support the plyotal connection i 3 for the arm 3,1thf latterbeing" in' the form of "a' pivotalipin whiclifextends' through thearms'ii and throughjthefpivoted arm 3. T; The c'ounterbalancing.meansjabo A referred to includes iaftoggie 1ever i'devie icoinprising'an, upper toggle'memper. .l s an'dla itwer toggremm; her 1''! fpivotallycOnnected' itOgtIir" at); the lower end of thelowertoggl member l'lbeing pivotally connected atl'lBft'd thelowr end tune; bracket l4,andthe'uppere I 'dfo'fl th'jippertoggle 4 member "I 6 bein" assingonhecte'd fat [9. I to the arm 3 eselyias 'jt h s"eb a s fiqn ih rm kriYiI bnhcifoii I 9 s locate n frqe iii el lr i. m

ai ,c te b enq namsaes 'gi i-ih' d mi in s r 2! which i i-non eta at e eend to th i 0ta m 2n ii9n39 9 'Q re o n at an whicli islan hered t t here dio hefront o h a ej'l aids in x rt n a ruilineu qrce; ward. theIrhfi'LE a; 2; n iiepenter vo ln tt e t g le dev ce, wh ch.

en szto st a ht n .thei sel i p. 1

. The. upper to e member fi. is .p ovided with n: xt nsi 23:15.0 the. lw r .end qf. .whichii ecured a second pulling spr n lement .24. t e;

uppennmi. f

The tension of the spring 2| tends to urge the central pivot 20 of thetoggle lever device toward the right and thus tends to straighten saidtoggle. The straightening of the toggle device exerts an upward force onthe. pivot l9 which, because said pivot is at the front of the pivot l3for the arm, will tend to raise the arm. As stated above, when the arm 3and the top hot plate are in their lowered operative positions shown inFig. 2 the spring 24I exerts? alfdownward pulling force, on the arm atthe rear of its-pivot I3,.and the combined upward thrust of the toggledevice on the pivot I9 and the downward pulling force exerted by. thespring 24 very nearly but not quite counter:

balances the weight of the arm 3 and the tbphot plate 4 so that whensaid arm and top hot plate.-

are in their closed and operative position shown in Fig. 2, the top hotplate will rest very lightly upon any sandwich or other article which islocated on the bottom hot plate.

With the arm .3 and top'hot. plated thus counterbalanced they will notapply any crushing pressure: on a sandwich orv other article of foodwhichis being toasted orcooked between the two hot plates. r

When the arm '3 and top hot plate are swung upwardly intol'the'ir' openpositions, the toggle leverdevice l6, ll'inoves toward a straightenedposition shown in Fig. 3,,aiid thus the pulling action ofIthespring 21will exert an increased lifting force onthepivot I9' due to thestraightening of the toggle thereby applyingto the arm an increasedcounterbalancing force. By the time the arm 3 has been swung into itscompletely openposition shown in, Fig. 3, this counterbalancing .force'of the spring' 2l is sufiicient to overbalance the weight -of the armand thus yieldingly hold said arm and top hot platein their elevatedposition. The spring 24 operates as a counter-balancing factor only whenthe arm 3 is in its lowered operative position, and during the initialopeningflmovernent of said arm said spring closes, up andby the timethat the arm is fully raised, as 'shownin'F'ig'. 3, said spring is in avery loose condition.

When the arm 3 is swung downwardly from its open to its, closedposition, the overbalancing actionofthespring 2| will be lost and assaidarm'moves'intoits closed 'or operative position shown Rig." 2, thespring ZA again becomes operativeto 'apply a. c ounter balancing forceto e armm 'i -ibalancing f ce o the spring 2 giltogetherwith thateiiertedb'y the spring 2| will nearly "but not quite counterbalance theweight'of said arm and top hot plate.

Means are providedfor: adjusting the tension of the sprin'g'2l tomeet'the abov e conditions, and for this'pu'rpose the front endof thespring is shown as connected to a screw hook 26 which has screw threadedengagement with a sleeve 21 that extends through the front of the frameI, said sleeve beingprovided' with a head 28 having a screw driver slot29, so that by turning the sleeve the screw 26 maybe advanced orretarded to" increase or decrease'the tension of the spring 2|. In orderto steady the movementof-thearm 3 and top hot plate 4*fro'm' its open toits closed position, Ipropose'toe riploya dash pot devicehereinillustrated as a plunger -3ll secured at one end to theeXte'n's-i'23' f the u per toggle mem "merit of thejogglellever device-to exertanincreasing upward thrust against said arm; as] it 4 ber 16 and havingits other end operating in a cylinder 3| which is anchored at itsforward end to a bracket 32 carried by a support 33 that extendslongitudinally of the frame. The fit between the plunger 30 and thecylinder 3| is such as to allow the plunger to freely move in thecylinder, but will prevent any'sudden or rapid movement thereof.

The apparatus is provideclwith the usual control switch'34 bywhich theh'eatingcurrent can be turned on or ofi from the hot plates 2 and 4. Thecircuit wiring connections between the switch and the hot plates are notshown herein as they form no part of the present invention and will besuchas are usuallyemployed in devices ofvthis-typejthe lead-in electriccord being indicated. at 40. p

The arm 3 is provided at its free end with an insulated handle portion Mfor manipulating it.

I claim:

Anelectric grill comprising a supporting frame, a bottom hot platemounted threon, an arm pivotally mounted on the frame at the rear endthereof,-an upper hot plate carried by saidarm,v

a toggle lever deviceat the rearend of the frame and comprising an uppertoggle member and a lower toggle member located one above the other andpivotally connected together, means pivotally connecting the lower endof the lower toggle member to the frame at a fixed point in the rear;thereof, means pivotally connecting the upper pivotal axis and ;operative when the arm isin t lowe d o ativeposi ion to exert a downwardpullin fo o sa am in t e rearof its p vo sa d in cooperatin to nearlybut not quite counter-balance the combined weight of the arm andthe-tophot plate when they are;

in their lowered operative positions, said second p llin Spring b ineioperative as a ounter-. balancing feature during the -;upward swingingmovement of the arm and the first-named pulling spring acting throughthe straightening moveswings into open position, which upward thrustissufiicient to yie1din 1 hold said arminsuch pen position.

" B FEBEl ES C ED The following reference'sare'of record' in the 1 fileof this patent:

HA RY E. was;

